Gee, I always took username to mean it was evil from the production standpoint, not the “I can’t afford to kill myself with it, alas!” standpoint. You live and learn, as dropmom says.
Anyway, never had it, but I likes me some good liver. Saw a show about raising free-range foie gras ducks and they seemed as cool about getting food dumped down their gullets with no effort on their part as my newborn daughter did about feeding from a nose tube. She later found breasts WAY too much work and liked it when I opened up a rubber nipple so she could drain a bottle in 45 seconds.
The ducks probably don’t appreciate their fates, but they are prey animals and something in their Collective Unconscious probably tells them they were lucky to last that long. OTOH, my daughter will eventually kill me.
He says no need for divorce; he’ll come too and carry our bags!
Knowing what I know of you from your posts, you’re really missing out on something you might really, really like. Foie gras does not taste like liver, as many others have mentioned. It tastes like heaven. You should just run right over to Whole Foods or whatever the equivalent is where you live and buy a small slab of Pate de Fois Gras, a baguette, and a bottle of Sauternes then thank me for telling you to do this for the rest of your life.
FoieGras, if you can’t convince Athena to leave her husband (or even if you can), I’m available for the whirlwind foie gras tour. Might I suggest we start in Japan, where searing is the default cooking method?
My heart broke when on a visit to Paris I searched desperately for seared meat butter and was disappointed at every turn.
In the meantime, this thread is going straight into my food pr0n spankbank. “Almost crispy, almost blackened…the salted, seared crust…”
Foie gras totally tastes like liver – not like beef liver, but like chicken liver. Fine pate also tastes like liver. Everything with liver in it, tastes exactly like liver, just to varying degrees of intensity.
Foie gras has a very dilute flavor because of all the fat, but its the flavor of liver. BTW, I find the butteriness completely revolting. I would puke if I had to eat a chunk of meat flavored butter.
Shoot, I actually edited my post (time expired, so it never went up) saying something to the effect of “No liver taste? Meat butter? I’ve gotta find me some of this…”
So in that case, I’ll just have to try it soon :D. Where would I find it in Whole Foods? At the meat counter?
Also, where the heck can I find quail eggs? I had 'em for the first time last night and they were really quite good.
[OT rambling – a Sauternes sounds about right. Who’s going to take the “Pepsi Challenge”? Step up, would-be culinary stars hamstrung by an aversion to organ meats.]
Ooo, good call. Yummy marrow. OK, marrow is “meat butter” with the emphasis on the butter, and foie gras is “meat butter” with the emphasis on the meat.
As for quail eggs, it’s a complete crap shoot where I find them. My local Mexican-targeted supermarket always stocks them, for whatever reason. It’s not something I’d expect to find there, yet it is.
Excellent, in the cheese area. I’m excited! I’ll ask about marrow there too.
The place I get free range eggs from are trucked in to Whole Foods from a farm an hour away so I don’t wanna go there. Guess I’ll just ask around at the farmer’s market and so forth.
ETA: We just got our first Mexican market a year ago, so I’ll try there too. Thanks!
Marrow you get from marrow bones. Talk to the guys at the meat counter, and they should be able to help you. If you have trouble finding marrow bones, you can get at least a single serving of marrow from the bone in a portion of beef or veal shank. (I believe that’s where marrow bones are usually from, anyway.)
Spread it on a a toasted baguette cut crostini-like, sprinkle some kosher salt on top, and yummy!
Like. In fact I like anything with liver (even braunschweiger). Taking it a step further, I’m fond of just about any kind of organ meat (although I have yet to try kidneys). I’m the only one in the family that likes chicken giblets…whenever a fowl is being prepared I’m right there waiting for the entrails to be brought out. Toss 'em in a hot skillet with a little olive oil and minced garlic…appetizers extrordinaire!
I think I had it once, and if that’s actually what it was, I found it completely unremarkable-- Pretty much like any other sort of meat-based spread. Although I do like the liver of large animals.
Seared foie gras isn’t seared all that much over here. They just throw it in a hot pan, quick, quick, flip it, quick quick and put it on a plate. So it doesn’t end up crispy and blackened, but almost liquid and raw inside with a brown, fat-caramelized exterior.
It’s like an angel’s coming in your mouth.
It’s also the devil to digest. Plan a siesta or two. But totally worth it, twice.
There’s a joint in my neighbourhood that does it just perfect (among other foie gras delicacies - it’s their specialty, that and cèpes). If you’re ever in Paris again, send me a PM, I’ll give you the address
Heh, what do you know, they have a website. Saves me the trouble of figuring out the actual address :D. Their directions are rather unclear, but I guess that’s what Google Maps is for. It’s also a 2 min. walk from the Pont de Levallois-Bécon subway station (use the exit on the tail side of the train)
As for the price range, it’s the only reason I don’t live there. You can get away with a ~25 euro meal, but the average is more around 40 (not counting the wine). Which is on the expensive side for my broke self.
Still, culinary bliss and pro-level artery clogging. Can’t put a price on that
Yeah, a whole lobe is overload for sure. I don’t think I could put away more than about 4oz at a sitting. Unless I wash it down with a foie gras milkshake.
Hard to parse this, Ministre.
Sweetbreads? Also very, very good by the way.
A foie gras threesome! YES!
Where’s the “I’ve met my soulmate” smiley again?
Spoilsport.
Marrow is more spreadable than foie, so your comparison is apt. I am trying to think of a French dish whereby you eat marrow soup and the next course is where you scrape the marrow out of the bones from the soup you just ate and spread it on toast. Damn, where’s my “Food Lover’s Companion”?
so I don’t wanna go there. Guess I’ll just ask around at the farmer’s market and so forth.
